US open: Much better than expected economic data

LONDON (ShareCast) - -Boehner says both sides must continue contacts
-Some believe Boehner may lose position of speaker
-Mostly better than expected data

Dow Jones Industrials: -0.95%
Nasdaq Comp.: -1.39%
S&P 500: -1.11%

The main US equity benchmarks are registering large falls, following last night´s fiscal cliff set back. Republicans in the US House of Representatives, the lower chamber of Congress, pulled their Plan-B proposal due to a lack of support within even their own rank and file.

Speaking just now the speaker of the House - Republican John Boehner - has indicated that both parties must continue to work towards a solution, which may serve to assuage some concerns.

Nevertheless, risks remain, although yesterday´s unexpected turn of events was apparently not completely unexpected by economists; some, such as those at Nomura, believe a solution may have to wait until March.

Mergers&acquisitions front and center again

Tyco Intl. has proposed increasing its dividend pay-out by 7%.

Crane&Co. is to acquire MEI for 820m dollars.

Pinnacle will purchase Ameristar Casinos (NasdaqGS: ASCA - news) for $868m.

GE will pay $4.3bn for Avio´s aviation parts unit.

Mostly better than expected data

US personal incomes rose at a rate of 0.6% month-on-month in November (Xetra: A0Z24E - news) according to the latest data out today from the Census Bureau (Consensus: 0.3 per cent). That was the largest rise since February.

The latest data on durable goods orders showed an 0.7% month-on-month increase for November (Consensus: 0.3%). Furthermore, the previous month´s reading has been revised up to show a rise of 1.1%, well above the 0% of the preliminary estimate.

Core capital good orders bounced back by 2.7% last month.

The Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago´s latest national activity index also registered a strong increase.

The University of Michigan´s consumer confidence gauge for the month of December dropped to 72.9 points, after a reading of 74.5 for the month before (Consensus: 74.7).

Large drop in crude futures

Front month West Texas crude futures are now dropping 1.05% to the 89.27 dollar mark on the NYMEX.

10 year US Treasury bond yields are now down by 6 basis points to the 1.74% level.

S&P 500 - Risers
Nike Inc (NYSE: NKE - news) . (NKE) $103.65 +4.70%
Red Hat Inc (NYSE: RHT - news) . (RHT) $54.84 +4.24%
Carnival Corp. (CCL) $37.61 +1.68%
Teradata Corp. (TDC (Other OTC: TDCAF - news) ) $63.54 +1.29%
Big Lots Inc (NYSE: BIG - news) . (BIG) $28.31 +1.25%
Newmont Mining Corp (NYSE: NEM - news) . (NEM) $44.55 +1.02%
Apartment Investment & Management Co. (AIV) $26.84 +0.55%
Equity Residential (NYSE: EQR - news) (EQR) $56.78 +0.50%
Duke Energy Corp. (DUK) $65.33 +0.43%
Pinnacle West Capital Corp. (PNW) $52.45 +0.42%

S&P 500 - Fallers
Micron Technology Inc (NasdaqGS: MU - news) . (MU) $6.29 -7.36%
Lexmark International Inc (NYSE: LXK - news) . (LXK) $22.86 -4.27%
Yum! Brands Inc. (YUM) $63.83 -4.00%
Sears Holdings Corp. (SHLD) $42.48 -3.96%
Cintas Corp. (CTAS) $41.28 -3.53%
Advanced Micro Devices Inc (NYSE: AMD - news) . (AMD) $2.32 -3.33%
Alpha Natural Res (ANR) $9.19 -3.31%
R.R. Donnelley & Sons Co. (RRD) $9.13 -3.08%
Masco Corp. (MAS) $16.14 -3.06%
Life Technologies Corp. (LIFE) $49.78 -3.02%

Dow Jones I.A - Risers

Dow Jones I.A - Fallers
Bank of America Corp. (BAC) $11.22 -2.60%
Caterpillar Inc (NYSE: CAT - news) . (CAT (Taiwan OTC: 4990.TWO - news) ) $87.49 -2.25%
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $27.24 -1.59%
Hewlett-Packard Co. (HPQ) $14.21 -1.52%
Walt Disney Co. (DIS) $50.18 -1.47%
JP Morgan Chase (Other OTC: JFTTL - news) & Co. (JPM) $43.89 -1.44%
Cisco Systems Inc (NasdaqGS: CSCO - news) . (CSCO) $19.95 -1.43%
Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) $87.71 -1.33%
Home Depot Inc. (HD) $61.15 -1.32%
Intel Corp. (INTC) $20.76 -1.26%

Nasdaq 100 - Risers
Randgold Resources Ltd. Ads (GOLD (Other OTC: GDCWF - news) ) $98.80 +0.31%
Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. (VRTX) $43.47 +0.30%
Sandisk Corp (NasdaqGS: SNDK - news) . (SNDK) $44.29 +0.14%
Ross Stores Inc (NasdaqGS: ROST - news) . (ROST) $53.26 +0.00%

Nasdaq 100 - Fallers
Research in Motion Ltd. (RIMM) $11.67 -17.35%
Micron Technology Inc. (MU) $6.29 -7.36%
Sears Holdings Corp. (SHLD) $42.48 -3.96%
Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc (Xetra: 887856 - news) . (GMCR) $41.26 -3.12%
Life Technologies Corp. (LIFE) $49.78 -3.02%
Electronic Arts Inc (NasdaqGS: EA - news) . (EA) $13.55 -2.80%
Nuance Communications Inc (NasdaqGS: NUAN - news) . (NUAN) $21.83 -2.54%
Marvell Technology Group Ltd. (MRVL) $8.24 -2.48%
Cerner Corp. (CERN) $78.22 -2.44%
BMC Software Inc (NasdaqGS: BMC - news) . (BMC) $40.92 -2.43%

AB